User Reviews
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 A Disgrace |  1.3
0 comments |
by xJadeNx
from , , | Jan 1, 2005 |
THE GOOD:
Addicting
Typical fun MMORPG... that is free on the InternetTHE BAD:
Not a true Final Fantasy
No Storyline
You could just play a cheaper MMORPG on the computer
Costs too much
SUMMARY:
First of all, I wanted to get this game. I was like "woot! Final Fantasy XI!" Then I realize it's only online. So, now I can't get it unless I pay:
$80 for the adapter
at least $50 for the game
and the monthly fee
Yea, I decided it was worth it. So, I start playing it. and im disgusted. How did I even think about trying this game? This game shouldn't claim itself a Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy is famous for its amazing storyline that motivates the player through the occasional boring RPG part to reach the end in awe... but there's none of that. This is just an MMORPG trying to sell well by claiming it is Final Fantasy. If they continue to make these online "Final Fantasy"s this series will die, and the only people that are playing it are the people who just see it as another uber addicting MMORPG. Stop playing this game and get a better MMORPG for cheaper that isn't such a coward as to hide behind the brilliant name Final Fantasy.
jaden <3 2.3/10 |
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| Square is good even at MMORPG |  4.8
0 comments |
by  SepheroT
from 2d floor of hot, , damn Hell | Dec 2, 2004 |
Many have criticised Final Fantasy XI for being nothing more than a money grabbing scheme, cooked up by the crooked cash-mongers at Square Enix. Let me be the first to tell you that all these accustions were made under false pretenses. This game is the shining polaris of all MMORPG games, and offers more tasks, more quests, and more side-missions than most regular RPG games. This game is unique, it's immense, it takes place in THE largest online world imagineable, and everything takes place in relative real-time, with a combat system that will have you addicted more than any other FF game ever could have. There is easily thousands upon thousands of hours of gameplay, all of which will offer something new, and there are very few cases where things get repetitive. If anything, this game should be be glorified as it is the most immersive, most elaborate, and best community driven MMORPG to ever grace a console or a PC. This game does require the Ps2's HDD, but at 99/149 bucks USD/CDN respectively, the game is pretty much free with the purchase of the hard drive.
Story 10/10
The story is simple, but what MMORPG has a convoluted plot line? Even though the main premise is to stop the shadow lord from taking over Vana'diel, there are several interladden sub-plots that inform the gamer of the back story, what life was like in the previous age of the Shadow Lord, and what must be done to stop him once again. There is easily enough main quests in this game to warrant about 1000 hours of gametime. It doesn't stop there though. In order to obtain some of the quests, you must go on missions for your hometown, either San'Doria, Bastok, or Windhurst; probably to obtain a key or rare item, or simply to increase your rank as a fighter to be able to take on stronger and more powerful enemies. It is incredible, every NPC will have some sort of mission for you to do, whether it be collecting rabbit hide, or collecting coffer keys to obtain some of the most powerful armour sets in the game. These seemingly small tasks, add much more to the overall story, and sense of wonder than one might think. This is truly a work of art, and deserves to be regarded as such.
Graphics/Presentation 10/10
Best. Graphics. On Ps2. Ever. The character models are incredibly smooth, and the lighting effects like the glimmer of the sun, the shine of your armour, or the changing times of day, all illuminate a plethora of overwhelming fung shuey. The environments are huge, and seem realisticly so, as some structures are literally 20 - 30 times taller than your actual character, which isn't always the case in most games. From open ranges, to dense forests, all the way to bone ridden dingeons and mines, all the way to desolate underground communities, deserts and secret cities, this game has an environment and aura for any person. Happy, sad, desolate, depressing, inqusitive, confusing, and everything else you can think of.
There isn't a single game that outshines this game in terms of graphical appeal. The particle effects of huge spells, the ground shattering visual appeal of pulling off a weapon skill or the joy of seeing the explosions and bursts when a skillchain is successfully executed, ring throughout the entire game. The world of Vana'Diel is literally alive. It is full of motion, even when you are not there. If there were no people on any of the servers, the world would still function. Night and Day would come and go, the NPC's would arrive and depart, and the circus shows would continue to entertain; the world is alive, whether or not it is simple AI controlled NPC's, or the real-life characters interacting and talking to each other. This is a living, breathing world, full of clans, communities and cults. This is Square Enix's first attempt at the console MMORPG, and it works wonderfully, and evokes not only the skeptic, but also the hardcore FF fan, as there is a certain appeal for every gamer alike.
Gameplay 8/10
The battle system is flawless. Most attacks are executed easily with macros, the spells require a casting period before the spell is cast, and the pet abilities are automatic for the most part. New abilities are learned as your class gains levels, or you learn abilities as your skill with a certain type of weapon increases. The character growth element of FFXI is probably it's higest point. You will find characters that find the most joy in only leveling up, and becoming the uber strong character on the server. Level caps are in place so that people don't level up too high before the Ps2 gamers get a shot at getting accustomed to this new and intimidating world.
Each character can chose between 6 initial classes for his or her character, and chose between 5 different races. The 5 races are Hume, Taru, Mithra, Galka and Elvaan. The six initial starting classes are Red Mage, Black Mage, White Mage, Warrior, Monk, and Theif. After you reach level 30 with your current character, you can begin to obtain advanced jobs, which offer a myriad of extra abilities, and have even better looking, and even more interesting special attacks and armour. Some examples of advanced jobs are Dragoon, Bard, Samurai, Ninja, Summoner, Beastmaster and Paladin. After you chose your race, hair colour, hair style, gender and class, you are then dropped right into the fray, and are off on your long journey.
Though leveling up and finding different classes are not your only source of entertainment. There is a lot of fun to be had in learning how to craft and synthesize items to be sold in your own bazaar or at the auction house, where you will no doubt find people who are looking for a party. With an emphasis on solo adventures in the early chapters of the game, you'll soon find that all missions and quests become impossible without a party or alliance of some kind. Six people can join up into a party, and 3 parties of 6, can ally with each other, making a team of 18 people. There are some quests that will require an alliance of 18 people, just because the enemies are so incredibly tough. Though there is some strategy in forming parties. Everyone has their own role. White mages heal, Warriors attack, Paladins will provoke enemies to take damage, and fast attackers like Dragoons and Ninja's will deal heavy damage to the enemy. There is a trick to getting more people in your alliance than 18 though. Classes like Summoner, Beastmaster and Dragoon have the ability to summon and control pet creatures, which are just as strong as normal characters. An ideal alliance would have 6 Dragoons, 6 Summoners and 6 Beastmasters, so the total number of active members would be 36. These types of tactics are crucial when trying to stack the odds in your favour, though it never hurts to throw a few red, black and white mages into the mix.
The point is, there is just so much to do, that you begin to wonder when you will run out of new and compelling tasks to accomplish. The fact is, there is no end to it. This is an on-going world of business, commerce, war and community. Even if you find some way to accomplish everything possible in this game, Square Enix is constantly adding new content with monthly patches and the occasional expansion pack, that will integrate more areas to explore, new armour to obtain and new classes to master.
There only two small problems with the gameplay though. You will find that early on in the game, the battles are repetitive, as you'll be fighting killer bunnies, bees, worms and bats over and over, just to level up enough to get started in the real adventures of Vana'Diel. The other is that this game is heavily menu driven. Though some prefer a lot of menus, some do not, and admittedly, navigating through menu after menu just to buy a certain item, or execute a certain attack can get tedious and annoying, though it never takes away from how fun the combat actually is.
Controls 9/10
The game controls just fine. The Ps2 controller combined with the keyboard is almost perfect, though it would be nice if there were a few more keyboards that aren't cumbersome, or as expensive. The only problem with the controls really, is the fact that it's a lot of hardware just to control a character in a world like a normal FF. The only real need for the keyboard is to communicate with others, and I have to admit, I wish there were a few more macros for key phrases to make communication a little easier; but in the end, this game controls with a certain fluidity, that even makes navigating all the menus easier than it sounds.
Soundtrack/Audio 10/10
The music is done by the infamous Nobuo Uematsu, a genius when it comes to music. Each town has it's own infividual theme, and the battle music is quite catchy. Where the score shines though is in the opening theme. I haven't experienced such a lively and polyphonic piece since One Winged Angel in Final Fantasy VII. A score to gawk at, and wide array of audio effects, this game would make the G.A.N.G. proud to be working for better performance in gaming audio.
Replay Value 10/10
It's an ongoing world of life. The game never stops, so you will always be playing, at least until you can't keep paying the monthly payments. If there is no end to the game, the replay value is as much as you make it. There is an infinite amount of time be spent in this deep and immersive world, so have at it, and let the good times roll.
Final Verdict 9.6/10
Incorporating new hardware, creating new communities and online friendships, this game will be the centre of every FF gamers life, for the next 20 years. There is no reason to NOT pick this game up, if you have an internet connection and a Network adaptor, and can afford the monthly fee. Some would argue that the monthly fee is useless and is only a money grab by SE, but once you see what this game is actually like, and how alive it is, and how full and vibrant the people and cities really are, you don't know what you're missing, and this game is worth every penny. As mentioned before, it would be nice if there wasn't such a heavy emphasis on menu driven gameplay, though it never gets in the way of having the best damn time of your life.
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| Addicting |  5.0
0 comments |
by  Dark Knight47
from Bellevue, NE, | Nov 11, 2004 |
THE GOOD:
Almost perfectTHE BAD:
No real story SUMMARY:
Why not a 5? The game is almost perfect in every way. The no lag for ps2 users (even dial-up) was one good thing i noticed. (not sure about the pc) The graphics where very good, concitering theres is about 3,000 in you're server at a time and the games still doesn't run slow. This game is not short at all...so if you don't have about 6 or more months open forget it. As for the wepons and armor, there is a big selection but could of been better detailed like marrowind. Anthor thing that could be more detailed is the bad guys ^^.
I liked how they have differnt naames and differnt jobs and all but they can look different. like a fisher gob and a butcher gob those are 2 good examples becuse they are from the same family (gob) but look different. LONG STORY SHORT this game is very good.. and time consuming! |
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| Why not? |  4.9
0 comments |
by  EKKEL
| Aug 2, 2004 |
Why not a 5? The game is almost perfect in every way. The no lag for ps2 users (even dial-up) was one good thing i noticed. (not sure about the pc) The graphics where very good, concitering theres is about 3,000 in you're server at a time and the games still doesn't run slow. This game is not short at all...so if you don't have about 6 or more months open forget it. As for the wepons and armor, there is a big selection but could of been better detailed like marrowind. Anthor thing that could be more detailed is the bad guys ^^.
I liked how they have differnt naames and differnt jobs and all but they can look different. like a fisher gob and a butcher gob those are 2 good examples becuse they are from the same family (gob) but look different. LONG STORY SHORT this game is very good.. and time consuming! |
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| Final Fantasy XI *Hands On* Review |  4.6
0 comments |
by  RPG_Master44
from Still drunk, , and stoned... | Jan 7, 2003 |
Well, on my recent trip to Japan I had the honor of playing this game. So here we go...
Registering and such is not much of a pain. Pretty much the same as the Beta. It takes time to install and update (yes there was an update already) but after that it is pretty easy. The major difference between the startup procedure for the final version and for the Beta is that before creating a character for use with the game you now need a so-called 'Contents-ID' recorded to your PS2 hard disk. You obtain this ID by selecting an option in the Final Fantasy section of the Play Online browser. It costs 1280 yen per month with an additional 100 yen per month for each additional character.
The Story takes place in a world called, Vana'Diel. The world that you live in, in the past was purified and beautiful in every aspect with the power of the Crystal. The people who believed in the light fought against the people and monster who believed in the darkness. The monster destroyed the towns and polluted the world. Now it's 20 years later, and the darkness returns quietly, will you be able to stop it? In Final Fantasy XI, you will be able to choose your character of choice. The characters includes Hume, Tarutaru, Elvaan, Mithra, and the Galka.
After picking your character a brief introductory sequence showing off some areas from your kingdom and a tiny story sequence in which your character is welcomed follows. The world is actually larger then I expected. The outside world has a lot of detail with rest areas, watchtowers, rivers and forests. Really the best I have seen from Square.
The music and sounds used throughout the game are pretty good (well anything from Nobuo Uematsu is good lol). The aural side of the game manages to keep the mood for adventuring, and there's now added incentive for fighting as a party, thanks to an all new battle score.
Battles are fought on a free turn based action similar to Phantasy Star Online. Each character has his or her own abilities to use and master in this game. Who gets what magic is most likely depends on what character you choose.
Magic has an element of time associated with it. When you select the option to cast magic, your character pauses briefly, then begins to cast. A meter in your status window gradually fills to 100% at which point your character unleashes the spell. If you're struck by an enemy before that time, you run the chance of the spell being canceled and your having to repeat the call. Through my limited play time, I was unable to obtain any new magic spells aside from the default Stone spells that accompanies a Black Sorcerer from... well, probably from birth. However, I did see a variety of spells being cast by players including healing, defense and powerful attack spells. One player cast an explosion of some form that dealt a death blow to one of the enemies.
The big party experience has proven to be the most enjoyable point of the game thus far. I tried to get people to join me but was rejected a lot lol. Finally I got to join a team. Playing the game as a party can be an exhilarating experience. Battles are much more frantic, with players casting spells from all sides of the enemy, some close and some far. Perhaps the most memorable point in the game was when our party was fighting a monster in the vicinity of another party's battle. Spells filled the screen practically nonstop, all backed by some very typical Final Fantasy-esque battle music. If you're into RPGs in any form, you'll love what you see here.
Quests can be quite easy and difficult. Completing quests opens up others. Money is obtained only through auctions and through rewards for completing quests.
If there's one thing I can say about Final Fantasy XI, in addition to it being a fine game, is that it requires a huge investment of time. Whereas previous games in the series were story driven, such is not the case here and the only elements of story occur in the background, with occasional in-game event scenes involving non-player controlled characters. You may find yourself amazed to see that you just spend a couple of hours doing nothing more than walking around the castle surroundings and gaining maybe a single level. Adventuring in a group is likely a requirement for actually building up your character at a reasonable level in a reasonable amount of time.
From my limited time playing I like what I see. Just getting into MMORPGs myself I really like this. Though it will take a lot of time to play so expect to clear your schedule for this game. Still I miss the lack of a good story but solid fun gameplay rank this game high. |
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forums
4.12/5.0